The Family
by Eronald
Summary: The Listener of the Dark Brotherhood returns to the destroyed sanctuary to pay his brothers and sisters their last respects. First story, R&R. Rated T for swearing and violence.


"_Raorin Yslbern of Solitude,_

_ You are placed here to guard this area, former Dark Brotherhood property, as we believe they may return and attempt to salvage the area. If you encounter any of these vile assassins, do not hesitate for a moment to impale them on your sw- "_

He crumpled up the letter and tossed it into the bubbling black pit of water. The Penitus Oculatus agent who owned the letter was slumped onto a nearby rock, his throat cut open. He stood up from his crouching position and looked at the body of poor old Festus Krex, pinned to a tree by dozens of arrows. He heaved a great sigh and with the wave of his hand, the arrows pulled themselves out of the old man's body.

The body flopped down to the ground. He placed his hands on the bloodied corpse and dragged him to the side of the pit of water. He would bury him later, using enchantments to make the graves visible only to Dark Brotherhood assassins. He was thinking of the engraving already._ "Here lies Festus Krex, cranky old uncle"_ He smirked at that thought. He approached the door and put his hand on the carvings, reminiscing in the moment he first put his hands on this door. He pushed it open and entered the dark abode.

The first thing he saw when he entered was more charred corpses of those damn agents. He spat on them as he walked by. The next fallen brother he found was Veezara. He could tell him apart from the others because of the shape of his body. It resembled an Argonian and the thick reptilian scales prevented him from fully burning beyond recognition. Veezara saved his ass big time once. After driving his dagger through the back of Vittoria Vici's neck in the middle of her speech, chaos broke out. Her husband drew his sword and in retaliation, he broke the man's jaw with a hard blow. When the door behind him burst open and three guards rushed him, he was surprised when one fell straight off the balcony with an arrow protruding from his neck.

There was Veezara, on the ground and emerging from the shadows, bow in hand. He jumped straight off the balcony and landed in a roll. At the end of said roll, Veezara grabbed him by the shoulders and told him that Astrid sent him. Veezara then shoved him away and drew his dagger, hissing at the guards rushing at him. He then ran to the stables as fast as he could. He had to cut through a crowded market at some point because the main road had a line of guards waiting. He remembered shoving someone into a stall, which collapsed onto them. He made it out with a few scrapes and rode back to the Sanctuary in one piece. Veezara overtook him as they rode though.

Shaking his head rapidly, he took his mind back to the present. He took the Argonian's body outside and gently set him down next to Festus. He entered the sanctuary again and went deeper in. The next body was Arnbjorn's. He could easily tell because of the sheer size of the body. He had died in his wolf form. Took too many arrows. He remembered his last moments alive.

Arnbjorn was ripping those bastards apart when he came in. He ran to fight side by side with the wolf. He killed two, maybe three of them before Arnbjorn went down with a howl. After that he charged straight at the archers, decapitating and dismembering several. He also remembered their first meeting. _"Hey, fresh meat."_ He frowned when he was greeted as such. He was treated like some damned novice that didn't know shit about cutting throats. In a little time however, Arnbjorn grew to like him. Even envy him at some point. And that time Arnbjorn smelled his inner wolf and confronted him. The tension that brought..

But in the end, he was like all the others. Brothers and sisters. _Family_. Like how Astrid put it. The wolf body was raised up with Telekinesis and laid next to the other bodies. He silently wished he could have buried his human form. Sighing yet again, he entered the sanctuary and found Gabriella's charred form on the table which Festus usually sat by. It was thanks to her he had his armor at the moment. Recovered from that Assassin of Old at Hag's End. She also helped Astrid in devising the plan to kill Maro's son.

_Maro. That BASTARD._ He was glad he gave that _piece of SHIT_ the suffering he deserved. Slashed him across one eye when he walked up to him. Then he kicked him in the knee hard enough to make the bone cave in. Maro collapsed and he held him down by the shoulders. He did what Ulfric did. He shouted at his face. His skull nearly caved in from the force and his ears and nose bled heavily. That wasn't enough. He stabbed him repeatedly. He lost count of how many times he stabbed him with Astrid's dagger. He stabbed and stabbed. Enjoying and savoring the sight of his blood spilling onto the docks. _Loving_ the feeling of watching the life drain from his ey-

"AAAHHRGHHH!" He let out a loud yell and kicked the chair next to the table, sending it flying and breaking on the wall. He put his head in his hands poured the rage out. His frame shook as waves on waves of emotions flooded through him. He dropped to his knees and put a hand on the ground, gripping the burnt pieces of wood and iron until his knuckles turned white. His breathing was heavy and labored and he shook madly. He tried to calm himself down slowly.

When he was ready to take the Dunmer's body with the rest, he stood up. Moonlit walks on the beach while stabbing unicorns with crotchet needles. A woman of refined and simple tastes, she called herself. He tried to smile at that memory and how dumbfounded he was. He stood there with his jaw hanging open slightly, not knowing what to reply.

He gently set her down next to Arnbjorn. He knew there was one body left. He lowered his hood and ran a hand through his hair. Messing it up and then massaging his temples. He dreaded going back in. Too many memories. Too many lives lost. _Valuable_ lives lost. His_family's_ lives! He felt too much sorrow, too much rage! All just too much! He couldn't take it. But he needed to do this. Nazir, Babette, and the two initiates were coming to meet him for their burial. And it was the most important member of the family that was in there. Even though she'd refer to him and any other as brother or sister, he always thought of her as a mother. Their _mother_. The Den Mother's body. Astrid. Who he had to kill himself. He didn't want to do it, he didn't enjoy doing it, but he had to do it. He had to put her blade through her heart and end her misery. He had to fulfill her contract. He had to take charge.

Grunting, discontentedly, he entered the sanctuary yet again and went to the room she died in. The candles were still lit. She was there, all burnt up and deformed. The Den Mother. He took several steps towards her before dropping down to one knee and putting his hand to his face. He couldn't let Astrid see him grieving. She'd disapprove. _No Alchemy experiments for two week!_ After finding out of his interest yet lack of skill in Alchemy, that's how she punished him for injuring himself while out on a contract. He got clumsy and woke up his target's bodyguard, who cut deeply into his left arm. When he got back, her face contorted to a mix of anger, shock, and concern. After Babette took care of him, she tossed him a coin purse and told him his punishment.

She may have thrown away the functional Dark Brotherhood tenets but, she only did it because she believed her rule would help. She admitted it in the end after all. That she was wrong. That she should have stuck to the tenets. She was afraid of losing her family. If only she had let her fears out. Maybe all the death could have been avoided. You'd think he'd be furious with her. Astrid sold him out and caused the death of many members of the family. Maybe he was just naturally forgiving. Maybe he was a bit crazy. Possibly both. Either way, he didn't see her in a negative light. The only negative point he held on to was the fact that she did not express her troubles directly. She was against The Night Mother to some point and was prone to arguing with those who believed highly in The Night Mother. But he never thought it would come to this.

Nothing that could be done now, anyway. And besides, the Dark Brotherhood was back to its old status. Feared. Respected. Powerful. All the wrongs were righted. Their downfalls mattered not anymore. What mattered was the present. Their successfulness. The Dark Brotherhood was going to last and it was going to be unchallenged. The Night Mother was back and the Brotherhood had a Listener. Himself. They would remain strong.

He looked up from his hand to the burnt body of the assassin he respected the most. Astrid. He reached over to pick her up when a voice spoke up. _"Brilliant job you did with the Emperor, brother."_ He leapt up and spun around to come face to face with none other than Astrid herself! Except you could see through her and she was glowing a bright blue. _"Couldn't have done it better myself. Climbing in from the bottom deck by a chain hanging off the side, then getting passed EVERY guard without raising your blade once. Color me impressed, brother. Or should I say.. Listener?"_ She was smirking at him and leaning against the wall. "Astrid.." His voice was raspy and dry, as if he hadn't drank for decades. _"Don't go soft on me, boy; or I swear, by Sithis I'll find some way to restrict your access to any sort of ingredient in Skyrim!"_ She put her hands on her hips spoke in a playful tone which oddly enough had some authority in it as well. He let out a dry chuckle.

"_Knock it off, tidbit. You'll make us look like a bunch of sappy horkers."_ The spectral form of Arnbjorn appeared next to Astrid. He couldn't stop himself from smiling at their sight. _"Pfftt. Same little KID that crept up behind me and watched the professional alchemist make his poisons. Little mudcrab is what you are!"_ The taunting voice of Festus came along with his apparition, sitting on a table, resting his chin on his knuckles. _"Lighten up, brother. If you stay like this on your next contract, I can't save your hide again."_ Veezara's ghostly figure appeared, sitting in a corner, laughing._"Come on, brother, if you fix yourself up, I promise you can go with me on the next moonlit stroll"_ Gabriella's phantom was grinning wildly. He didn't know whether to laugh or to just stare at them all. A complete family again. Where was Babette and Nazir when you needed them?

"_Eugh. Is that what I look like?"_ Astrid voiced her disgust as she stood over her body. _"Since you've already taken care of us, I suggest you take Astrid up with our bodies. It would be nice getting some rest. We will be judged at the Void and we may be at peace. I suppose that can't be too bad."_ Arnbjorn slowly faded as he said this, along with all the others, except Astrid. _"Nice touch with Maro, by the way. Using the Thu'um.. Brilliant! Dragonborn, listener, what else are you hiding, hmm?"_ Astrid walked towards him.

"_Oh and I never asked you to go through the trouble of giving us a proper burial. I can't remember the last time an assassin was put to rest with dignity."_ Astrid chuckled lightly. "I felt that it needed to be done. You all deserved it. And.. I could use your guidance. At least you kept us together. The initiates need discipline knocked into them. They ke-" Astrid snapped her fingers in front of his face. _"Oh be quiet, you fool. Just do what you feel is right and keep those tenets. You will lead the Brotherhood to glory, brother. My time is up. It's your time to lead this family of ours. Now get my body up there with the others. You stay safe out there."_ She placed a hand on his shoulder as she slowly faded.

Once they were all gone, he gently picked up Astrid's body and made his way up to the surface. As he emerged, Babette was sitting on the ground looking at him, Nazir was leaning on the side of a tree, and the initiates were both standing silently. "Ah! There you are, listener. We were worried you might have drowned yourself in memories in there" Nazir's hand clamped onto his shoulder as he approached the other bodies. "I've gone ahead and cleared the burial site. Only initiated members of the Brotherhood will see the graves. Anyone else will see more grass and Nightshade. So we're good." Babette joined them as they walked to the graves. The initiates followed quietly.

When got to the graves, he found that they had already moved the bodies next to their respective coffins. "You got coffins?" He asked. "You went through the trouble of getting them buried, we might as well put them in with as much dignity as we can" Nazir reasoned. He nodded slightly and they moved the bodies into the coffins. "Alright well the Brotherhood's never had anything like this before, and I'm no good with ceremonies of any type so.. Okay. Brothers, sisters, we are gathered here today to commemorate the loss of our beloved dark brothers and dark sisters. Veezara, a humble Argonian, who died as he lived: With honor and spirit. Arnbjorn, he was tough and can dish out one hell of a punch. But on the inside, other than his inner wolf, he had a soft spot for his family, us, and he fought to protect us, tooth and nail. Gabriella, a lighthearted and friendly Dunmer with a talent for stabbing and an even better talent at using magic for destructive purposes. May we remember her as she would have wanted us to: cheery. Festus Krex. Grumpy old guy he was but still true to the cause. But he was as much of a brother as anyone of us standing here. May he melt people's faces off in the afterlife."

"And Astrid. Dear Astrid. What you did, you did for the Brotherhood. Know that we do not look down on you for your faults, but we look up to you for your triumphs. I hope you find peace and do not go turning about in your coffin in regret. May all of you brothers and sisters find peace." Nazir looked up at him. "You aren't good with ceremonies?" He scratched his head. "I just.. I let it out. I've been wanting to give my brothers and sisters a goodbye ever since we left the sanctuary." Nazir spoke in a solemn tone. Babette moved first by closing the Veezara's coffin lid. They followed her lead and closed all the coffins. The lids had an engraving of Sithis on them. Fitting for a dark brother or sister.

They gently lowered the coffins in one by one and the initiates shoveled the gravel back into the ground. He placed their gravestones on their graves and Nazir engraved them. Festus' gravestone appeared as how he thought it would. They all did actually. Loving Mother on Astrid's grave was a nice touch that Babette added herself. When everything was done, he drooped down with his back to a large rock and sighed. He put his head in his hands and simply sat there.

"We'll meet you back at the sanctuary, listener. Do take care of yourself now." Nazir departed with the others as he remained there. He pondered over the things Astrid said. He pondered over what all of them said. He soon realized that he should not be remorseful. He should be happy! His brothers and sisters were at peace. So he stood up and took one last look at the graves of his departed family. He saw faint outlines of their forms standing over their graves. He pulled his hood up to cover his face and set out to return to the sanctuary, feeling better than he had in a long time, knowing has family was finally at peace.


End file.
